


what to do when your best friend turns into a bat

by vaahtokarkki



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: (wataru), Animal Transformation, Magical Realism, Nonbinary Character, Other, Vampires, all of watarus doves will have names, is that enough tags for now, kinda. i try my best, other characters added when they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 15:11:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15754266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vaahtokarkki/pseuds/vaahtokarkki
Summary: Wataru gets a new roommate through some unusual circumstances, and Rei has to share a living space (and a Wataru) with four doves.Only problem is, how to turn him back?





	what to do when your best friend turns into a bat

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone!! this is my new multichapter, one I've been sitting on for a looong time now. I can't make promises about fast updates since it's not finished, but I'll try my best!
> 
> decided to post the first chapter today for two reasons: to motivate myself to finish this, and because it's Captain's birthday and they've been looking forward to this fic for a while now. happy birthday <3

It’s going to be a chilly night. Jeanne is already shivering, her feathers ruffled, and Wataru pets her shortly before walking back to their window to close it.

A full moon, they note, and a beautiful one, with no clouds to obscure it. Wataru locks their window but stares at the sky for a while, leaving the curtains open for just a while longer. A night like this is surely full of magic, and they feel energised just letting the moon’s glow wash over them.

Something lands on their shoulder with a flutter, and Wataru raises their hand by instinct to run their fingers over soft feathers. The dove nudges at their neck as another – who sounds like Jeanne – flies on their shoulder, chirping as she softly pecks at their braid.

“Mm, of course”, Wataru promises. “I was just going.”

Their precious doves might have become a bit _too_ smart, as they’ve taken up the habit of pestering them to get them to go to bed, when it gets late enough. Who knows where they got the idea that someone like them needs sleep!

…Well, some nights they are grateful for them.

 

About an hour after Wataru closes the lights and attempts to fall asleep, something knocks on their window.

Their eyes fly open. There are no trees outside their window, and the pattern of the sound is too deliberate to be an accident.

After ten seconds of silence, the sounds repeats, and – yes, it has to be someone who knows what they’re doing, so Wataru slowly gets up to check it out. They’re getting interested now – their room is on the second floor, after all, so who would climb all the way to their window to knock on it…?

But when they get to their window, they can’t see anyone outside. Now, this is even more interesting! It’s the middle of the night, but Wataru feels their insides bubbling with excitement. Is this a riddle? Is someone trying to trick them in hopes of them figuring it out –

As soon as Wataru carefully opens the window, something small and dark speeds past them inside the room.

Wataru whips around as their doves begin chirping in alarm. The room is too dark to see properly in, so they quickly close the window and approach their bed to get their phone. It looked like an animal, but what kind of animal _knocks_ …?

Even before their phone’s flashlight is on, Wataru can spot movement from their bed. There’s nothing on top of the blanket, so whatever it is, must have climbed under it.

“Hmm~m”, Wataru hums while gripping the top of the blanket to slowly pull it down.

The trembling mess of tangled limbs under it is so tightly rolled into a ball that it takes Wataru a moment to realise it is, in fact, a bat.

“Oh?” they whisper. “And how did you decide to come in? Don’t be scared, now…” their voice immediately shifts to the gentle, cooing tone they use with their doves – maybe it will help calm this creature down, too. And it does calm down, a little, enough to peek out from between its wings to look at Wataru, who makes sure their phone’s flashlight isn’t directed at it.

“Look at you”, Wataru continues, slowly reaching out to touch the bat, who flinches but doesn’t move away. Wataru carefully scoops their hand under it, and it yields, adjusting itself on their palm. It’s still shaking, but from cold or fright?

The bat is a gangly creature with thin limbs. It doesn’t look too well-fed, and when it raises its gaze to look directly at Wataru, they see its eyes are a striking shade of red that gleam in the light their phone provides.

“You look kind of familiar, don’t you?” Wataru chuckles. “Although I think Rei would roll his eyes if I compared him to a bat just because of the vampire thing… you’re not a vampire bat, right? Just making sure…”

The bat flaps its wings, face turning into a frown that doesn’t look too typical for a bat. Come to think of it, those eyes look very… intelligent, in a way, almost human-like –

“No”, Wataru breathes, lifting their hand to take a closer look at the bat. It looks back at them with determination, small fingers clutching at one of theirs. “Are you?”

The bat nods, it’s _definitely a_ nod, but how…?

“Are you _sure_ about that? I saw him around just earlier today, and he looked _much_ like a human. Vampire.”

The bat nods again, this time more fervently, and Wataru clicks their tongue, reaching out to search for its aura instead.

The aura is familiar. Not _exactly_ like Rei’s, probably due to his current form, but it’s not an animal’s, and since it’s – almost like Rei’s –

“Well, it’s not like I can call him to check on this – he _should_ be awake this late, but he just doesn’t know how to use his phone properly, does he? Nine out of ten times he doesn’t even answer my calls.”

The bat huffs, lying flat on Wataru’s palm. They slowly bring their other hand closer, and the bat eyes it warily but doesn’t move.

“Hmm…” Wataru gently pets the bat’s head, then at its back. “I just might believe that. You seem to understand speech, and it wouldn’t be the strangest thing I’ve seen in my life. That, and your aura…”

The bat relaxes visibly, nuzzling against their other hand.

“Rei”, Wataru murmurs, “do you know how to turn back?”

Rei casts his eyes down and shakes his head.

“Then naturally I’ll help you!” Wataru declares. “Well… unfortunately, I’m ill-equipped to deal with a transformation such as this, but Natsume-kun might be able to help, considering the kind of magic he dabbles with…”

Rei looks back up, and Wataru pets his head again.

“Fufufu… I must say, you’re absolutely adorable in this form… just as cute as my birds.”

Speaking of their birds, they seem to have calmed down, though they're certain none of them are asleep yet. Wataru stands up from their bed, still cradling Rei on their palm, and goes to check on them, to assure them that whatever flew through the window wasn’t dangerous. And sure enough, they’re all watching them as they approach.

“Here, look, you all remember Rei, right? My friend, with black hair?” Wataru asks, holding out their hand so the birds can see Rei. “He looks a bit different now, but I hope you’ll all come along, as my precious friends!”

The doves eye Rei warily, especially Rei – who was named after Wataru’s most foolish crush – but it’s better than direct hostility. Wataru glances at the perches the doves are on, and then at Rei.

“Think you can’t sleep until morning? You could hang around here”, Wataru gestures towards the perches. Rei grips harder at their hand upon hearing the words and shakes his head. “No? Do you want to fly around some more? I can’t keep the window open all night but I can open it in the morning –“

Rei shakes his head again, this time more forcefully.

“Well… I’m not much company when I’m asleep”, Wataru frowns. “But you’re free to join me in… my bed.”

This time, Rei nods. Wataru clears their throat – they always imagined, if they said those words to Rei, the context would be… different. Delivered with more purpose and charm. _Definitely_ not while Rei is a bat.

“Oh, well!” Wataru sighs. “I’ve chickened out long enough, so might as well make that a promise. I’ll say it properly once we figure out how to turn you back, okay?”

The look Rei gives them is confused, but Wataru only grins at their friend. ”Don’t you worry! There isn’t a riddle your Wataru Hibiki can’t… solve…☆” their mouth splits into a yawn towards the end of the sentence. “After some sleep, that is.”

They walk back to their bed and place their phone on the nightstand before climbing under their blanket. Rei leaves their hand and crawls over the blanket, until Wataru feels movement against their chest and then a warmth against their neck.

“Be careful there, okay? I might move in my sleep”, Wataru reaches out to run their fingers across Rei’s back while he settles himself more comfortably on Wataru. “Hmm… just don’t bite me, okay?”

Something flicks across Wataru’s neck that could’ve been a bat tongue, but they’ve never been licked by a bat before, so they can’t tell.

“Try to rest a little even if you can’t sleep”, Wataru chuckles, their voice already growing slower. Rei sighs ever so quietly in response.

“Then, good night…” Wataru mumbles, letting their eyes flutter closed.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [foxy flying fox](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15760203) by [sbahjification](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sbahjification/pseuds/sbahjification)




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